Bihar govt to give Rs 500 bonus to every migrant with rail fare

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday assured the migrant workers coming from other states of reimbursing their rail fare and a one-time bonus of Rs500 once they complete their 21-day quarantine. The CM also announced that the students returning from Kota would also get their travel expenses reimbursed as the state has paid their fare to the Railway Board.

In a video message on Monday, Kumar said the migrant labourers will have to stay in the block-level quarantine centres for 21 days to claim the reimbursement of their rail fare. In addition, they would get Rs500 as bonus.

The Bihar government requested for 50 trains from different destinations for Patna and other parts of the state. Nine trains are already on their way to Patna and Danapur. Two trains — Shramik Specials — carrying Bihari migrant workers from Kerala reached Danapur station in the morning. Third special from Kozhikode was to reach Bihar late at night.

Passengers of the special trains showed railway tickets and claimed they were charged Rs910 per person for Ernakulam-Danapur travel.

Migrants from Kerala were medically examined at Danapur station before being allowed to travel to their respective block headquarters in special buses.

Two special trains with 2,000 students from Kota reached Gaya and Begusarai stations today. These students claimed they had to pay for their railway tickets.

The state government has decided to facilitate those staying in Bihar to return to their residences outside the state. They have been asked to procure e-passes from district magistrates. Over 8,500 people got themselves registered. Railways would arrange their return journey according to the guidelines of the ministry of home affairs.

Meanwhile, the number of corona patients rose to 525 with fresh cases from Begusarai, Madhiubani and West Champaran districts.

Principal secretary of disaster management department Prataya Amrit told media there would be no green zone in Bihar and all areas would be treated as red zones during the lockdown 3.0. Lockdown would be enforced strictly, he said.